For your vie wing
pleasure, here are some photos of my Tamiya 1/48 Scale Brewster B-339 Buffalo.
Designed and manufactured by Brewster Areonautical, the stuby F2A Buffalo series
became the United States Navy's first operational aircraft of monoplane design.
Despite this honor, the aircraft
as a whole failed to live up to expectations. The aircraft was too heavy for dog
fighting and suffered from poor maneuverability.
The British
purchased some 200 of the export version (the B-339), who called it the Brewster
Buffalo. They were sent to the Far East in an attempt to free up Spitfires and
Hurricanes in Europe. Used in the defense of Burma and Singapore, the Buffalo
was overmatched by the Japanese and eventually withdrawn from service. The only
successful combat enjoyed in the Far East was the 100 Buffaloes of the
Netherlands East Indies Army.
A significant user
of the Buffalo was the Finnish Air Force. Forty four Buffaloes were flown by the
Finnish LLv24 Squadron. The aircraft was very effective in the hands of its
Finnish pilots. No fewer than 12 pilots became aces in Buffaloes, and the
aircraft is remembered fondly by many.
Click on
images below to see larger images
About the kit: This
was an OOB build, and overall, assembly of the kit was relatively easy. The
parts fit was good, there were no serious gaps that required filling and
sanding. Fuselage and wing components had both raised and engraved panel lines.
Because I wanted pin-washed panel lines, I rescribed all the engraved panel
lines.
Typically I mask
canopies using Parafilm, but with this model I used canopy masks that Tamiya
provided with the kit. The masks were easy to apply and fit well, it made
masking the canopy much easier.
For painting I airbrushed the
bottom of the fuselage and wings with Model Masters Sky. The camouflage pattern
on the wings and fuselage was airbrushed with Model Masters RAF Dark Green and
RAF Dark Earth enamels. The cockpit interior was painted with Model Masters
enamels according to the painting instructions.
The kit provideded decals for
several different aircraft. I chose to go with the decals for No. 448 Squadron,
RNZAF Singapore, late 1941. The decals were excellent; they snuggled down
tightly with a little Micro Sol. I finished up the model with Model Masters
Semi Gloss Clear Lacquer Finnish.
I was pleased with the finished
model, an enjoyable project.
Burt Gustafson
Click on
images below to see larger images
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